Erin sorry I can guess that Rolf whispering can you tell what it is yet while doing so is horrible but what's "real dolls"
What's the consensus on Lovren? Is he an improvement on Skrtel/Sakho? And are there better central defenders available for £20m in this crazy transfer window?
On technical ability alone lovren is no better than Agger imo. However he has good leadership qualities and is able to organise a defence. So he's basically a combination of carragher and agger, which cant be a bad thing
I like Lovren. I assume he will partner Sakho. Defensively he sems much the same as Skrtel technically but is much better on the ball. He has great passing stats like a top midfielder. He is also more comanding in the air. But the key thing that seperates him from Skrtel is his vocal leadership and organizing ability. He is often compared to Carragher because of this and we really missed Carraghers lead at the back last season. Great defenses need that kind of playing. A Carragher, Terry, Vidic, Kompany. Lovren will hopefully be that for us. So the key things we gain from Lovren are passing and leadership. Or in a team perspective, more organisation and better ball retention. I also think him and Sakho will make a well balanced pairing.
Good player. Again feel we've overpaid by maybe £5m but from an English club who didn't need to sell maybe it was always going to be the case. Apparently was the organiser of the team and standout defender for Saints last year and in his mid 20's so just about to hit his prime. I like Skrtel but he does things which really piss me off like backing off attackers and letting them get closer to the edge of the area before going to close down, often being too late and results in a free shot at goal! Lovren/Sakho seem to be the future CB pairing and if Lovren can keep Sakho organised, something neither Skrtle or Agger do, then could be a good partnership.
I say CB's typical peak between 28 and 32. Lovren could be a few years from his best and is still awesome. Exciting!
Some organisation in our back row would be a good thing. 20m seems a tad expensive, but that'll only be a problem is he's a flop; if he's a success, no-one will care about the price. Not too sure on the way he's managed his transfer based on some of the things heard, but then you can't be sure how much of that is true.
Didn't think he had a great WC to be honest, and he supposedly tailed off for Soton as well. I'm not as excited as I would have been had we bought him in January. Would obviously love it if he were a success and became our rock at the back for the next e.g. seven years though.
If he organises the defence for us, it'll help. But it's not going to stop gaping holes appearing if both FB's are in the opposition half and we lose the ball.....and/or if Gerrard gets pulled out of position leaving the CB's totally exposed through the middle or down the sides...... In short, a welcome addition but will only paper over the cracks if we decide that all out attack is the best policy! (I hasten to add that if we do decide this and it culminates in us having a chance to win the title on the last day of the season, I'll take it!!)
Last season was ****ing fantastic - obviously we need to address certain defensive aspects but our philosophy of 'score loads of goals' needs to stay.
In a quote i read from Sakho he claimed his biggest strength was his ability to organise the defence, can two "organisers" be successful together?
To a certain extent yeah but without Suarez we won't be the same force going forward (like it or not) so really we need to be looking to be a bit more balanced. A guy like Lovren might bring this but I don't think last seasons problems were entirely related to the back 4. The cover from midfield was at times non-existent and having a defensive "organiser" is all well and good but it won't make a jot of difference if Ming continues to look as nervous as a horse in a glue factory.
No but then Sakho needs to just try and concentrate on his own game never mind worrying about anyone elses
Yeah unfortunately that guy was some player I still think with our pace and directness we will still be more than capable of ripping teams apart though - hopefully Ming will be more settled going into this season too.
Certain teams we will batter no doubt but without that extra spark I fear the pace and directness aspect becomes much easier to counter. That means we have to be a lot more solid at the back, great counter-attacking teams know how to soak up pressure for long periods and we simply aren't good enough to do that without major improvements in both personnel and tactics.
